“Workplaces should be mandated to establish baby friendly centres or crèches that would promote breastfeeding among working class women. A mother who has a supportive and a friendly environment would feel encouraged and happier to breast feed her baby,” he said.
He said: “Optimal breastfeeding prevents infants from becoming malnourished and stops the negative consequences of building an army of under-developers out of our children. “This is because a malnourished child will never be able to exploit his or her full potential in life, largely as a result of an undeveloped brain, due to insufficient intake of nutrients in the first 1000 days of life of a child.
“As such, there is no better investment than ensuring that children are adequately fed, and exclusive breastfed in the first six months; this is to prevent stunted growth among children.”
According to him, breastfeeding is cheaper, healthier and provides significant rewards in the latter years of the child, family and the country at large. “Intelligent children make our society an interesting place to live in and breast milk is the key to children’s intelligence; let’s sustain breastfeeding together,” Mr Ideva said.
